


All I See Is You

by oneforeveryday



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, But they'll eventually get together y'all know it, But they're a bit younger, Can be read as platonic or romantic on Sokka's end, Coming Out, First Kiss, Gay Zuko (Avatar), Hospitals, M/M, like 15 or so, sexually ambiguous sokka
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:35:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28223256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oneforeveryday/pseuds/oneforeveryday
Summary: The first time Zuko opens his eyes, all he sees is Sokka.It’s an unusual first sight, but Zuko isn’t complaining. He takes a moment to marvel at how great Sokka looks with his jaw clenched and his thick eyebrows furrowed. Concerned Sokka is hot. Zuko wonders what he’s so worried about.It takes him two more seconds to recognize the scorching pain in his arm.
Relationships: Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 168





	All I See Is You

The first time Zuko opens his eyes, all he sees is Sokka.

It’s an unusual first sight, but Zuko isn’t complaining. He takes a moment to marvel at how great Sokka looks with his jaw clenched and his thick eyebrows furrowed. Concerned Sokka is hot. Zuko wonders what he’s so worried about.

It takes him two more seconds to recognize the scorching pain in his arm.

“Agh!” He hisses, or at least he thinks that’s the sound that comes out of his mouth. His hand quickly reaches up to cradle his left bicep.

“Shit,” Sokka curses from above him. He thinks that he’s lying on Sokka’s lap for some reason. Sokka’s hand cradles Zuko’s jaw, thumb brushing against his cheekbone softly. If Zuko wasn’t in immense pain, he’d be over the moon about the intimacy of the gesture, but it kind of flies over his head. “You’re awake, thank god. Dad is taking us to the hospital. How are you feeling?”

Zuko can feel himself struggling to breathe. His head feels fuzzy, and the feeling of Sokka carding his fingers through his hair isn’t exactly helping. “What... the hell... happened?”

“You fell at the skatepark,” Sokka’s father recounts from further away. When Zuko turns to the direction of his voice, he’s in the driver's seat. Apparently he’s in a moving vehicle. “You broke your arm and hit your head soon after. You might have a concussion.”

Fuck. “Call my dad,” Zuko rasps out. He’s feeling woozy, as if he’s about to pass out. For the second time, since supposedly he had done that earlier.

Sokka looks grim at the suggestion, but he says, “Yeah, okay, Zu.”

Zuko promptly blacks out again.

–

The second time Zuko opens his eyes, he’s definitely out of it.

To be honest, he doesn’t remember much. Sokka tells him that when they showed up at the hospital, his dad said Zuko was a distant nephew staying with them on vacation and the nurse somehow bought it.

He’s pretty sure they put him on some kind of drug to numb the pain after they determine that he probably isn’t concussed, because he feels very loopy, but they’re making him stay overnight to keep tabs on him.

His entire arm is wrapped in a cast. It’s boring and white and he can already feel his hand getting sweaty and cramping up, but he doesn’t mind it so much.

The  _ I can’t take you anywhere you uncoordinated loser  _ written on it makes him giggle a lot more than it should when he sees it. He thinks that has more to do with the heart next to it, rather than the sentence itself. (Or maybe it’s the drugs, who knows.)

Sokka holds his free hand and asks if he’s okay ten more times before Zuko passes out.

–

The third time Zuko opens his eyes, it’s eerily quiet.

He thinks it’s late. The hospital is clearly no longer busy as the bustling sounds have simmered down, and the only noise he can hear are the cars outside the window.

Sokka is still here, asleep on a plastic chair, because of course he is. Of course he refuses to leave. Such typical Sokka shit.

(Zuko is so grateful for him that it hurts.)

The only light in the room is that of the overhead above his hospital bed. Which is supremely uncomfortable, but it can’t be nearly as bad as the chair Sokka is sleeping on.

“Sokka,” Zuko says. He repeats it louder when he doesn’t stir the first time, causing him to startle awake.

Zuko watches as he looks around the room, disoriented. “Hmm?” Sokka asks.

“Aren’t you uncomfortable like that?” Zuko asks quietly.

Sokka burrows further into the chair, crossing his arms and closing his eyes again. “I’m fine, Zu, don’t worry about me. Are you feeling alright?”

Zuko ignores the question. Maybe it’s the fact that he still feels kind of delirious, but he ends up blurting out, “Come sleep next to me.”

Sokka’s eyes snap open. “I—no, I can’t. You’re hurt.”

Zuko narrows his eyes. “Sokka. Get over here. Lay on my other side, you won’t bother me.”

He can see the moment Sokka cracks. He tries not to let it be a big deal, ignores Sokka stretching out as he stands up from the chair and makes his way around the bed, but his heart is pounding erratically in his chest.

They’ve done this before, many times, but not in a bed this tiny.

Zuko shuffles over as much as he can as Sokka slips in next to him, under the covers. There isn’t a fraction of Zuko’s side that isn’t touching Sokka, and he wonders if Sokka can feel his heartbeat pulsing through his body like a livewire.

Scared that Sokka might actually be able to feel the humming of his body, he speaks. “Did my dad stop by while I was asleep?”

Sokka deflects. “God, you’re so fucking pointy, it’s like sleeping next to a bag of bones.”

Zuko knows what Sokka isn’t saying. His dad didn’t show up. He just wishes Sokka had the guts to tell him.

“Sokka, tell me,” Zuko says. He’s angry. Angry at the world for giving him such a shit father, who can’t even bother to check up on his son in the hospital. Angry at Sokka for always trying to spare his feelings, like he’s a goddamn baby. “I don’t need protecting, I can fucking handle it.”

Sokka hesitates. “I know you can handle it, but…”

“But what?” Zuko counters. “I’m not a child.”

“It’s not about that, Zuko,” Sokka insists. He’s craning his head, trying to meet Zuko’s eyes, but Zuko refuses to look at him. He hears Sokka sigh. “Look, I know you’re mad at your dad, but don’t take your anger out on me. You know I hate that misplaced emotion shit.”

The anger instantly seeps out of him at Sokka’s words. He hates when people do that, too.

“Sorry,” Zuko mutters. “He didn’t come, did he?”

“No,” Sokka says quietly. “I’m sorry.”

“Whatever.”

“Go back to sleep, Zu.”

He does.

–

The fourth time Zuko opens his eyes, the room is pitch-dark.

His eyes flutter open, adjusting to the darkness. He shifts a bit. Sokka has practically enveloped his body while they were asleep, arm and leg thrown over Zuko’s side and head resting on Zuko’s chest. The heat of his body is pressed against his side, burns Zuko’s skin through the layers of their clothes.

(There’s no doubt about it: they were cuddling.)

Zuko can tell from Sokka’s breathing that he’s in the process of waking up as well. He holds still, prepared for Sokka to flinch away when he realizes their position, but nothing happens.

“Hi,” Sokka whispers against Zuko’s chest, when he’s finally conscious.

“Hey,” Zuko replies softly.

“What time is it?”

Zuko looks around the room and spots an alarm clock, displaying 3:07.

“Three in the morning.”

Sokka hums at this, and then asks, “Are you feeling okay?”

Zuko wonders if Sokka realizes how many times he’s asked that question today. He wonders if Sokka realizes that this is his version of saying, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have taken you there when I knew you couldn’t skate. I’m sorry, this is my fault. “Well, my arm is broken, I think I’m still a little high on the last bit of drugs in my system, and my dad is an asshole. But I think I’m okay.”

Sokka snorts, lip twitching. “Well, I’m here.”

“Yeah, and you’re heavy as fuck,” Zuko says, trying to put some annoyance in his tone.

The truth is that Zuko likes the feeling of Sokka’s weight on top of him. The heaviness grounds him in the moment; it makes him believe this might be real.

“Sorry, should I move?” Sokka asks. He actually sounds concerned, because that’s the kind of person Sokka is. Always afraid to hurt others, even if it might be from cuddling them to death.

“It’s fine, bro.”

Sokka doesn’t move an inch. If anything, he relaxes further into Zuko’s body.

It’s quiet between them, but it’s normal in the way it always is. Zuko relishes in the strange sense of comfort he feels when he’s in Sokka’s presence.

Usually he enjoys silence, but tonight he feels the need to disturb it. “I hate my dad,” he confesses into the darkness of the night.

“I know,” Sokka replies, arm tightening around Zuko’s waist. It’s almost a hug. An odd hug, but it works.

“He doesn’t give a fuck about me at all.”

“That’s impossible,” Sokka says, looking up at him. His chin is pressed against Zuko’s shoulder, but it doesn’t hurt.

“It is very possible.”

“Aw, Zu, who could not give a fuck about this face?” Sokka teases, lifting his arm to pinch one of Zuko’s cheeks. The unscarred one. That one does hurt.

“Fuck off,” Zuko mumbles, trying not to smile. Sokka puts his arm back around him and rests his head on the pillow, so close to Zuko that he can feel his breath.

Zuko isn’t sure what it is. Maybe it’s the drugs. Maybe it’s security of the darkness, the feeling that this might all be a dream. Maybe it’s the way Sokka doesn’t feel the need to move away from him. But for the first time in a long time, he wants to tell someone.

“He sure as hell wouldn’t care about me if he knew the truth.”

“The truth about what?” Sokka murmurs. Not pushing. Patient. Kind.

Zuko swallows thickly. “About me.”

“You want to be a little more vague or am I supposed to guess?” He sounds way too amused for the gravity of the situation. If only he knew what was going on in Zuko’s mind right now. If only he knew how much he hated himself for this.

Zuko takes a deep breath, and allows the truth to come out with his exhale. “I don’t think I like girls,” he whispers, almost inaudible.

He can’t believe he did it. He’s terrified. He trusts Sokka, knows he’s a good person and that he isn’t a bigot, but he doesn’t know how exactly he’ll react. Will he push him away? Tense, turn away, make an excuse to separate their bodies?

“You don’t think so?” Sokka asks quietly. He doesn’t even seem surprised.

Zuko is thrown off by the easiness of the question, but he rolls with it. “Well, I’ve never kissed a guy, so… not sure.”

“Straight people don’t have to kiss each other to know they’re straight, and you don’t either,” Sokka says wisely. “Don’t listen to that heteronormative crap.”

It’s three in the morning and Sokka is lecturing him on heteronormativity. He waits for Sokka to say more, but that seems to be it. “You aren’t surprised?”

Sokka smiles at him. It’s dark in the room, but his eyes have adjusted, and the moonlight is slipping through the shutters on the windows. It fans over Sokka’s face, his messy hair and his dark eyes, and Zuko can’t look away.

“Kiss me.”

“What?”

“If you want to know for sure, you can kiss me.”

Zuko doesn’t understand what is happening. “Why would you want to do that?”

“I want to help you.” As if it’s that simple.

But it isn’t that simple to Zuko. “I can’t kiss you.”

“Why not? Am I that unattractive?”

Zuko laughs and looks away. He can’t believe this is a real conversation he’s having with his best friend. “No, it’s not that, it’s just…”

Sokka rises from his place beside Zuko’s head, and places his hand on his cheek. “Zuko,” he says. And nothing else.

Zuko turns, meeting his eyes. If he thought he was terrified of telling Sokka before, it’s nothing compared to this. Sokka looks so serious that it genuinely scares him. He doesn’t know how to place the look on his face.

When Sokka leans in, it’s tentatively, as if to give Zuko a chance to pull away if he wants to.

(He doesn’t want to.)

Zuko stays still, and waits. Sokka tilts his head upward, moving in to kiss beside his mouth. Gently, at first, brushing against the corner of his lip. So, so close to where Zuko really wants him. 

Sokka pulls away slightly, but only to move his lips diagonally, kissing Zuko’s cheekbone. Once, twice. Softly, reverently. Brushing his nose along the slope of his face. Zuko holds his breath. 

He can’t stand it. The hand Sokka has on his cheek tingles. He licks his lips and tilts his head, meeting Sokka’s lips with his own.

The kiss is sweet. It’s the sweetest thing Zuko has ever felt. The way Sokka’s lips are moving against his, lightly with just enough pressure to constitute as a proper kiss, makes Zuko’s blood boil. His chest aches. He’s kissed girls before, but none of it felt remotely similar to this. None of it felt real. None of it was Sokka.

It only lasts about ten seconds, but Zuko feels breathless when Sokka pulls away. He looks equally as dazed as Zuko feels, and Zuko wonders what is going through his head.

Sokka bites his lip, but doesn’t look away from him, doesn’t pull his hand away. Zuko has to give him props for that. Then, he asks, “So?”

“Huh?” Zukos says dumbly, not understanding.

Sokka raises his eyebrows, and Zuko remembers why they did this in the first place. He snorts, and replies frankly, “Uh, yeah, I’m gay.”

Sokka laughs a little too loudly at that. “Okay, Zuko. I’m glad you figured that out.” He snuggles back into his side, head comfortable on Zuko's shoulder, wrapping his arm around him once again. Zuko wants to ask what just happened, but it’s late and they’re tired and he might be hallucinating this entire thing, so he decides that if anything, he’ll wait for the morning.

He decides to give Sokka a way out. “If we fall asleep like this, the nurses will catch us in the morning and throw a fit.”

“Let them,” Sokka replies sleepily. Zuko’s heart sings. “Also—you’re okay, right? No more pain?”

Zuko smiles. “Go to sleep, Sokka.”

They sleep peacefully.

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr is also @oneforeveryday if you want to talk! I’m not very active though lmao
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Also I should note that at this point Sokka and Hakoda don’t know the full extent of Ozai’s abuse.


End file.
